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Shane Gerald McDonald’s criminal DUI attorney did the best he could to get his charged reduced, but unfortunately for him the judge in the California state DUI laws case decided against such requests. Instead, McDonald will stand trial for two counts of gross negligence vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and driving under the influence causing injury in the aftermath of a horrific head-on car crash from earlier this year, according to the San Diego-area news source TimesofSanDiego.com.


According to California Highway Patrol authorities, McDonald, 22, got onto the wrong expressway ramp to Interstate 15 and started traveling the opposite direction of traffic. The fact that he was in a state that would require one of the best dui attorneys didn’t help either. It didn’t take long for tragedy to strike. The black Audi he was driving at freeway speeds hit head-on with a Honda sedan driven by Rodolfo de la Torre and his family members. De la Torre and the passenger, Teresa Esparza Hernandez, were killed instantly on the spot. The three passengers in the back were left seriously injured.

Even the best criminal defense attorney would have had trouble trying to find a way out for McDonald in this case. If convicted he now faces up to 16 years in state prison, according to Deputy District Attorney Cally Bright. Cole Casey, McDonald’s criminal DUI attorney, did his best to persuade Superior Court Judge Kenneth So to reduce the gross negligence charge to ordinary negligence during a preliminary hearing, but So would not budge. Casey Argued it was a new ramp and McDonald, who’s originally from Guam, was not familiar with it.

“He made a wrong turn,” the criminal dui attorney said.

If convicted McDonald will carry much more than the typical criminal record of a DUI charge, which can itself impact employment prospects and ability to obtain loans.

McDonald’s BAC was .14% an hour after the crash, well over the legal limit of .08. Blood alcohol tests can be challenged and if it’s found they were administered improperly thrown out altogether, but he also admitted to witnesses at the scene and to police officers at the hospital that he had been drinking.

There were no visible signs of brake marks at the scene. McDonald told officers he had been to a party in Del Cerro where he had, “more than three beers and two shots of vodka.”

His trial is scheduled for April 18.